Hey folks! Some of y'all have pointed out that there's a "media offline" screen blipping up during some of the clips. Something got messed up due to using different technology while travelling for the holidays, and I wasn't able to catch it before uploading. It doesn't look like I'll be able to fix that, but I hope you all enjoy the video in spite of it!
Its perfectly fine.. P.S: Would you please make videos on Locked Tomb (Gideon the Ninth) series by Tamsyn Muir? Have you read it? If not, I highly recommend iit
@@dailydoseofsunshine2319Depends on what you mean. Appearance wise, in their of source, both looked very different form each other. With powers, Dracula is more terrifying. But Nosferatu reminds us more of an animal, a predator, making his vibe more scary. Funnily enough, Nosferatu was the rip off of Dracula, the of source was an unauthorized adaptation of Dracula
@@dailydoseofsunshine2319 no its an interpretation of the original story and both have molded the lore of all vampires to come and are responsible for the two main archetypes of vampire you see today. one is a charismatic charming upper class person who is hiding a dark secret and manipulates their prey, the other an inhuman monster lost to a curse that preys on the weak. Popular culture didn't make the sexy hot vampire, it was the original.
@@zildjianabuser nah, I just don't love the drastic redesign. I'd prefer they keep it closer to the original look. Out of place wasn't the right phrase.
@joeyhoy1995 fair enough. I was taken aback when I first saw him too because I was expecting the more murine look, but I personally appreciate what I took as a nod to the original Dracula.
Great video and breakdown, however my point of contention is "Orlok is the only one not using her as a tool”. He did literally abuse her psychically for years for his own pleasure. He's a creature of utmost gluttony and he doesn't love her (which he admits himself). He does however appreciate her true power and darkness, and yearns to have her unleashed, which is what causes Ellen in turn to also yearn for him as nobody else gives her that agency. I would say it's Thomas and Anna, who she truly loved in a healthy way who never used her as a tool. They were dismissive, sure, but they truly cared and loved her and she them. Her final sacrifice is both her unleashing her power, while also ending Orlok for what he's done to her and her loved ones. She is a complex and beautifully tragic character.
Yes, I agree--especially by the end, Thomas does in fact know and understand Ellen pretty well, having experienced some of what she has (there is a clear invocation of sexual assault). After she tells him her darkest shame, he insists that he still loves her and she will never be rejected or abused as she fears again. He does then try to sort of redeem his masculinity by insisting that he'll kill Orlok, but the act of impaling Dracula, which would normally be the ultimate reclamation of masculinity, is abortive. I think it's very significant for this video's thematic interests that, in this version, Thomas is extremely feminized and paralleled to Ellen. They even look alike. The only normative masculinity anywhere in the film is Friedrich, who's a clown from the start, and perhaps Sievers, who is bumblingly ineffective. In a film this aware of gender dynamics (calming the womb! The "base animal" comment was the historical attitude about women generally, not just a specific take on Ellen!), the handling of Thomas is transformative for the character and his relationship to Ellen, society, and the story when compared to the other versions discussed here.
@@mirandameyer237 Thank you for your comment. I will make the point that even though Thomas may not "appear" traditionally macho and masculine as Harding, he is every definition of Masculinity throughout the movie. Things Thomas did that show this: travelled alone to a foreign country to build a great life for his wife; attacked the Undead giant demon jailer who kept him locked up in the castle, after going down a horrific crypt to find the Undead corpse; travelled exsanguinated on horseback to his wife to protect her before demon reached her; did not shun her or dismiss her when she recounted she was unclean and full of shame, instead pulled her close lovingly; swore to kill Orlok up close with a stake through him and went out to do so; finally accepted his wife's sacrifice and held her lovingly. Just because he was scared in the Castle (which ANYONE would be) does not make Thomas a coward. That man is brave and did everything I mentioned above while scared. He is truly masculine.
Eggers' movie is probably my favorite adaptation so far. I always like the idea of a vampire being a monster that is pretending to be human, and his Orlock can barely do that. Its also really striking how Orlock is just absolutely irredeemable especially in an era where pop culture favors vampires that are sympathetic
I think the kind of girls who want vampires to be sexy want a hot rich guy who exploits and oppresses others to share their wealth, status, and inhuman aesthetics with them. They have the romanticist and irrationalist streak of a proto fascist who is tired of being told they have to give up their aspirations for the benefit of lesser, poorer, uglier people who they think hold them back from "flourishing." Bourgie aspirants, class traitors. This is why they lust after the failed aristocrats who prey on common people and want to tear down the sociology departments, factories, and other organs of working class liberation, why they don't think the vampire hunter is sexy, but the child of Satan.
@@turnleftman Hopefully I can add to your enjoyment by letting you know this movie is about dating someone your friends hate who can’t get over their ex, and having the idea of that ex loom over the entire relationship. Eggers’ movies always deal with personal horrors and the fears that are bigger in our heads than they are in reality, but taking that to its furthest ends. This is in contrast to most other vampire films that are about whatever the “great other” in our culture is at the time of their making. Nosferatu original being about Jews in Germany, Gary Oldman Dracula and interview with a vampire being about homosexuality during the aids epidemic, etc.
I thought that the mind-blows would be limited to explaining that 1922 Ellen's sacrifice was for a society that never cared for her and that she had little reason to care for, but then the revelation about humans carrying the fleas that spread The Plague and the underlying reasons why we gave rats the blame comes in and eradicates what was left of my mind from the first reveal! FASCINATING video about a fascinating movie! At the risk of saying the wrong thing, I think Eggers' Nosferatu might be my favorite despite someone chatting in my ear the entire time I saw it. Although Ellen is still a loner who finds herself self- sacrificing for a society that neglected and constantly tried to control her, I do like that Thomas actually cares about her and that he and the other people in Ellen's life have credible reasons for not believing Ellen; they're still wrong didn't give her the chance she deserved, but I think it makes them more interesting (and depicts the plight of outcasts more honestly) when they aren't written as just being completely dismissive of her and their denial is less ostrich-in-sand levels. It might sound blasphemous, but I like that Orlok talks a lot in 2024, since all of his talk is just about having base desires and treating everyone (even Ellen) as just things to exploit so he can pursue those desires; he still feels like the barely-human Orlok of 1922, just much crueler and it really hurts that the one person who took Ellen's gift seriously berated her the entire time and ransomed her into killing herself just so he could sate his appetite.
i saw it for the 100th anniversary with a live band called invisible czars. they tour!they’re incredible. they sell a dvd of the film with their score too, if you can’t catch them live it’s still worth a view.
Don’t forget about “Shadow of the Vampire,” one of the more innovative vampire films in the canon. Willem Dafoe as Max Schreck, and John Malkovich as FW Murnau.
I freaking loved that movie! Max Schreck's speech with the cast at some point, describing the vampire's solitude and his awareness of everything lost to him, is brilliant.
For me, I see Nosferatu as a rejection of humanity and giving in to the most primal urges, while Dracula aspires to reach the highest of our cultural ideals and lays bare the kind of morality needed to attain them. The nosferatu is empowered by abandoning society and reverting to an animalistic state, and Dracula finds the same kind of empowerment by fully embracing society's idea of the supremacy of the individual. I always enjoy these gothic excursions, and I do wonder if certain small furry friends decided to "give a hand" with the script starting around 25:38. Not that I dispute the facts at all, but it does suspiciously sound exactly like what they would say...
@@Jess_of_the_Shire Overly Sarcastic Productions have a wonderful video titled 'Trope Talk: Small Mammal on a Big Adventure' that I think you would greatly enjoy! Have you considered covering rodent based fantasy such as The Tale of Despereaux on this channel?
It's been ages since I've read the novel, so I'm probably wrong, but I'm going to counter your take on Mina anyway: From what I can recall, Mina is a proficient in a couple of advanced Victorian technology, such as shorthand and typing (and she stumps Van Helsing with her shorthand skills); she's one of the voices that give us the narrative in the novel, and we get a nice sense of her humor and the directness of her tone, which I remember liking a great deal. If I remember correctly, she's an active GPS, not simply an instrument for guiding and saving - she uses her intelligence to help put two and two together, and is, in fact, an active factor in her own saving. This, at least, is my recollection. I want to add that there's a perhaps unconscious bit of symbolism for Ellen in "Nosferatu": she's first seen playing with a kitten. Orlock is associated with rats. So the kitten will trap and kill the rat.
Her intelligence and courage were on full display in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (the comic book series, not the mediocre movie) and I would highly recommend checking it out if you haven't!
Mina is quite competent and proficient in the book, and I like her character. However, I would still assert that Dracula is a masculine driven, male-centric narrative. Mina is important and involved, but she always defers to the judgements of male characters (sometimes to her detriment) and she is occasionally steamrolled and used in a way that is ultimately vindicated by the novel's conclusion. I wouldn't call it sexist by any means, but the female characters are definitely a product of their time, especially compared to the narrative presented by Nosferatu.
“Orloc is the only one not using her as a tool” okay this does not make sense to me. At all. Because to be consumed is to be used, to be a tool. She does not have real agency here. I think this speaks to how we as women will leave one bad spot and enter another while mistakenly thinking we were led by our own agency. When in reality it’s two sides of the same coin. We convince ourselves we enjoy being a lamb in the jaws of a lion and call it our “awakening”
Ellen's submission to Orlok is actually a false empowerment. Like you say she was pressed into that situation, but she also had the option to defy the terms of his contract. Her sacrifice is actually an appeasement to the malevolence which mass murders the people of Wisborg to force her compliance. They never really ask the question of what the terms of contract could be because they depend too much on Alvin's occult expertise. He makes a lot of bad assumptions which guarantee the tragedy at the end, but he's convinced in his own mind that this was a job well done. If you pay close attention you can notice the contradictions in Alvin's beliefs because they're contrasted by what's depicted on the screen.
I watched the original flick a few minths ago that had original color grading added back to it. Yellow during the day and by fire, blue at night and in darkness and pink at dawn and dusk. I really like How Eggers used similar lighting in his film, though I wish pink had gotten more screen time. Also, the costume department was cooking so hard for this new Nosferatu, hot damn
Ellen is technically an Enchantress, a Medium. Born that way, she reaches out to the unknown cause she doesn't know she has the power to talk and commune with the dead. In a way she's a untapped Necromancer. That's how Eggers kinda reformulated the story.
Exactly. She actually summons him. And he dismisses her erotic dreams of him as entirely of her own fabrication. Egger’s Ellen is not an innocent victim.
@@WouterCloetens Isn't she? I was under the impression that she was only a lonely girl with untapped supernatural potential who only wanted the "comfort" of a "guardian angel" and thus, unwittingly invoked a monster. In other words: she was a teen, and not exactly in a position to know just _what_ she was summoning.
@@WouterCloetens that was not in the original concept of the movie and props to Eggers making it his own. Most people doing reviews on this film don't dive into the source material to compare and contrast
My take: in the current Nosferatu, you take the vampire out and you're left with a story about a couple in a toxic relationship; jealousy and hidden traumas bring them together but also ruin them both, each in the most lonely way possible.
There's a lot of juice here, I love the telling of an aggressively modern story using the language of the romantic era. Eggars is so fucking good at this. You think he ever gets money for a historical epic? Eggar's "Hannibal" or "Sparticus" would be awesome.
Yes but then for me the most interesting part is that Orlock himself works amazingly as a metaphor for an abusive ex/former S** predator As if they’re two lovers doomed in the looming shadow of her former abuser
maybe… but they didn’t give enough screen time to their relationship, before or after Thomas’ trip to Romania. I would’ve liked to see a bit more of them in their baseline relationship, and just more from Thomas in general… maybe he meet some hot Romanian chick and has a little fling before coming back to Germany, and his frantic quest to destroy Orlok is born not just out of love for Ellen, but a need to rid himself of his guilt… or something like that 🤷🏻♂️
Im a sucker for eggers work, his attention to detail is astounding! Especially for a vampire nerd like myself. Like for instance his orlock has this raspy strained breathing. Lots found it odd or off putting, but one of the old "signs" that a body was a vampire was that it "moaned", gas build up from decomp going against the vocal chords was the reason, but they didnt know that. So orlock having this wheezing moaning breath before ge speaks is like the inverse of that. This is a dead body taking in air it doesnt need to speak, which it seldom does.
Really...odd take on Ellen and Orlock's relationship in the 2024 film. They make it pretty clear the Orlock cares nothing for Ellen "I am an appetite" and that the film is an allegory for older men taking advantage of young women when they are vulnerable creating life long sexual and romantic trauma. That is the entire reason the first scene of the film exists. Why when Thomas is near Ellen feels better and recovers. When she is with him she can overcome the sexual tramus of her youth. Only be facing it head on though can she save the man she loves and the town.
@@zerohikari2685 doesn't she get nakey with the vampire? Oh yeah true love for her husband right there. Your description fits the original film not this one 🤣
Something I think the film struggles with, because it's difficult territory to talk about IRL, is conveying that Ellen and Thomas each went willingly to Orlock. They wanted something from him, and they got it. To blame them as victims is to let Orlock off the hook. But nevertheless part of the human condition is getting hurt by the very things you go to for comfort.
@@lennydale92 i'm not really sure how you missed the fact that he was killing everyone she cared about and her husband was going to be next which is why she chose to sacrifice herself
Yeah eggers nosferatu is very much a rapist who manipulates and lies, blackmails and eventually coerces a girl to sleep with him. Ellen doesnt do it out of some feminist empowerment she does it to save her husband who orlok would otherwise murder
There is a fourth version, made some years ago starring Doug Jones (THE SHAPE OF WATER), available now on AppleTV. Personally I think the film portrays Thomas as genuinely loving Ellen, but at first not fully understanding her. As the story progresses, their love grows and grows ever more deep roots. Hence the tragedy is even greater. Also, the film makes a good point that Ellen is an unusually powerful, intuitive soul. This is what attracts Orlock--possibly because she is herself so alive her presence quickens him. BTW this might well be my favorite review of Eggers' film. Brava! This one is indeed my favorite version, even of DRACULA.
@@stargazerbird Has a very high body count, with Orlock drinking lots of people's blood (albeit mostly off screen). I honestly don't see how you can say this about NOSFERATU: SYMPHONY OF HORRORS (2024).
I saw the old silent movie and it was amazing! It started of as a meme and you were like o god this is what people are afraid of and then BAM things turn around out of nowhere and it went from funny as hell to entirely horror.
The reviews for Nosferatu, I have seen, really bring to the forefront just how media illiterate a lot of people are today. Thanks for being a light in that despair.
Harker in Herzog's film was played by the late Bruno Ganz, who, in his portrayal of Hitler in Oliver Hirschbiegel's "Downfall," attained a form of immortality as an internet meme.
@@IaMaPh1991 ....there is something like this. Not one-to-one,but Hitler is killed (again) on Dracula's command in Requiem Vampire Knight. Also, Dracula fights King Arthur, and a literal Nazi, former Teutonic knight, Vampire. It's.....a kooky comicbook.
I had the pleasure of watching this in high school as a junior; my teacher was in NYU FILM SCHOOL part-time. The silence throughout the film was chilling. I'm now 61, and am still impressed with this film. Great review. Have a HOBBITY DAY. Bx❤😎
I just watched the Eggers version so it’s hard to say. However I have the FW Murnau a few times and I love it. I didn’t even know there WAS a Herzog version. However. Willem Defoe and John Malkovich play Max Schreck and Murnau in a movie called The Shadow of the Vampire which imagines Sxhreck was actually a vampire. It’s actually surprisingly good.
Cool video. I've enjoyed your recent topical departures lately!! And while I always like your cosplay looks, this one is particularly on-point!! Well done.
@@Jess_of_the_Shire That makes perfect sense and I definitely hope to see a whole array of topics in 2025. Have you considered doing a video on The New Wave of Science Fiction? Here's a great quote from J. Michael Straczynski on what made it work and why it's still important: “There has been a lot of hard-edged, socially challenging writing in other forms and genres. Alan Ginsberg’s Howl, Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, the raw emotionalism of Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s A Coney Island of the Mind, JD Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye…all of them pushed the frontiers of writing, and many of them got banned or ended up in court on obscenity charges. But they kept on writing, because it was necessary to take a stand for literary freedom. The SF genre was (and to a degree still is) fairly conservative and, seeing what happened to the writers noted above, tended to steer clear of controversy. This persisted up until the time of [Harlan Ellison's] first Dangerous Visions anthology and the slow birth of New Wave Science Fiction (with writers like Michael Moorcock, Ursula K. Le Guin, Samuel R. Delany and others poking at the walls of conservatism) which DV codified from individual efforts into a movement. What makes a story dangerous in speculative fiction? Anyone who is willing to risk controversy, to speak to the flaws of society, to sexual and political issues even though they might get in trouble as a result. Harlan once wrote that ‘the chief commodity a writer has to sell is their courage,’ and for me, that’s what a dangerous vision is all about: a story that requires a modicum of courage to tell it. At its best, science fiction points to a spot on the horizon that illuminates the human condition and where we may be going, and asks, ‘Are you really sure you want to continue going in this direction?’ It illuminates what Faulkner called ‘the human heart in conflict with itself.’ SF, by definition, is rooted in the effect of change and technology on human beings. (By this logic, Singing in the Rain is a science fiction movie.) We are in a time of rapid technological and social change, and science fiction can be one of the ways we can interrogate and better grasp the changes going on around us. But institutionalized SF, which retreated from the New Wave a while back, is still dragging its feet, leaving the work to be done by upcoming writers willing to talk about racism, misogyny, brutality…but also the great potential of the human heart to overcome adversity and effect positive change. “Dangerous Visions helped get the ball rolling, but very few of the upcoming writers tackling Grimdark, or Afro-Futurism, or writers in the LGBTQIA community telling their own stories, were/are aware of the first DV anthology. Which is understandable because the book has been out of the public eye for many years, in some cases before they were even born. When I co-created/wrote/produced Sense8 for Netflix, I heard from so many in the queer community who were moved and happy to have a story that dealt respectfully with their lives, interests and concerns. For some creators who emerged from that fandom, Sense8 may have had a more current influence, but now that the DV books are returning to the outside world, that may change. I don’t think we will ever reach the point where nobody objects to anything. There will always be the outraged, the inflamed, the censorious. If anything, given the massive emphasis on banning books of alleged controversy, especially those that deal in any way with the simple existence of people in the queer community, the stakes and risks have gotten higher. But that makes it even more essential to keep pushing for freedom of speech. In a strange way, we’ve come full circle to where the first Dangerous Visions was published. In the 50s and 60s books were routinely banned, burned, and censored, and its authors pilloried and persecute. Now, in many ways, after a honeymoon period where this subsided for a bit, we have come full circle, and the banners and burners are flexing their muscles once again. Playing and self-censoring cedes the battlefield to the forces of oppression. It’s worth noting that when people say ‘keep your head down’ that’s pretty much the exact position you have to assume when you’re about to be guillotined. I’d rather go down fighting.”
My favorite aside from the original is the movie Shadow of the Vampire (dramatization of the making of Nosferatu.) Amazing cast with Willem Dafoe as Max Shrek and John Malkovich as Murnau
I'm so excited to see Eggers' Nosferatu! I absolutely adore vampire stories and I've loved his previous works so I'm stoked 🧛🏽♀️ Really enjoyed this video, I found you through your vampire Halloween video and I'm watching some of your other videos now. Going through a bit of a LOTR phase right now (going to see The Two Towers in my local cinema tomorrow!) so your channel is perfect! 💖 Keep up the great work, and a very happy, hobbit-y new year ✨
This is, despite being technically a remake of an adaptation, ironically, one of the most faithful adaptations of Bram Stoker's Dracula. The Count in the book was never depicted there as he is within nowadays pop culture, which is to say that he never was a tragic warrior prince who fell to darkness following the death of his wife or someone who seeks that same, redemptive love in Mina. Book Dracula was instead a bestial predator who only had a thin façade of humanity and preyed on Mina as a means to satisfy his bloodlust, not to find love (something his counterpart, Orlok, actually says in this movie: that he can't love). I feel like this movie has given back to the vampire that type of "infectious horror" that seemed to fall short of.
I loved that in Eggers’ film, the vampire doesn’t choose the maiden, she chooses him, she wakes HIM up. Von Franz even says to her “in heathen times you would have been a great priestess of Isis,” acknowledging her power and her ties to the unseen. She is Orlok’s equal, not his victim. They BOTH go to that bed knowing it means death, him to die in her arms rather than be alone again and her to keep death from reaching ever onward.
i would argue she doesn’t choose him. she chooses *release*, and he’s a means to that end. it isn’t personal at all, and i think that’s a way better story. he wants nothing more than her. she wants nothing about him, but she wants death. it’s tragic in every direction.
@@moonstone___ I think this works in the context of Dracula / Nosferatu being an allegory for terminal illness. Choosing to accept death rather than run from the inevitable.
I have to say, it was enlightening and refreshing to listen to a review about Nosferatu from a female point of view. And i'm not joking when i say that i now have a deeper understanding of the meaning of Ellen, respectively Lucy. Thank you for expanding my horizon.
Hello, I also was a crazy rat lady, but I subcome to allergies and couldn't have them anymore. We had so many wonderful rattie friends! I liked your take on Nosferatu! I love that you did all three movies! I love that Ellen, fully and through her own plan sacrificed her self, for the town, and for her well, adorably dim, husband. I also was very glad that they did not harm any of the cats.
It's surprising to me that Polidori's "The Vampyre" is hardly ever brought up, despite being published in 1819. It really set the groundwork for both Dracula and Orlock. I think Lord Ruthven is a nice in-between of the two, though leaning closer towards Dracula.
I just got back from Nosferatu! An unnerving film, and I’m also proud of saying my earliest memory of Nosferatu was his cameo appearance in o.g. SpongeBob
Thank you for this! I was lucky enough to watch Eggers's Nosferatu at a press screening a month prior to its cinematic release and was DYING to be allowed to talk about it. I haven't seen the 1979 version (I really dislike Klaus Kinski) but I watched the 1921 film and appreciate it very much. In my opinion, Nosferatu takes the cake. It provides superb cinematography, powerful, compelling acting and an overall great re-interpretation of Murnau's original story.
I like how Nosferatu implicates human behavior as part of why the vampire can thrive. Stoker’s Dracula is so good at preying on people that even when they do everything right they fall victim to him, which can make it seem like human choice and behavior doesn’t really matter all that much in the face of the monstrous, but in Nosferatu it seems like the bad choices people make individually and as a society matter a lot more and a lot of the disaster could have been averted.
My paternal grandfather was one of those Germans who loved to show us kiddies old b+w films from that time he got from his father so Bela Lugosi was modern to us.This was late 50's (yup, I'm older than dirt) and to make matters worse it was at our country retreat,no one around for miles.One of us would stand guard we were so scared 😨, good times and ty for your videos, very informative ❤
I just realized this, but of all the countless reviews I've watched on this movie, this is the only one I've seen from a woman's perspective. I feel so incredibly sad for Ellen. She didn't have a friend in the world. Your review gave me a lot to think about. Excellent job Jess of the Shire.
That interpretation is so bizarre to me. She has more than most people do. A husband who wants to provide, and friends who stick with her despite her literally being a psychotic mess 24/7. I really dislike this "woah is her" attitude for this review. Especially when she lied about her intentions to her husband. She never loved him and was instead using him to stave off the demon that she summoned. And then allowed that demon to murder the friends who tried to help her before finally facing the truth that shes corrupted and letting herself be the one to die instead of more innocents. She was holding back what she knew and really felt from the beginning because she was ashamed to face it in herself. If she had been honest, he probably would never have been with her. She knew from the beginning what she had unleashed on the world, but was too afraid to face that truth until the end. And its not "society's" fault that she felt that way. She was ashamed because what she did was shameful... The things that Jesse is saying are her friends and husband "dehumanizing" her are absolutely ridiculous and overstated. "He didn't know her opinion of picking flowers", "they didn't listen to cryptic warnings where she wasn't being fully honest", "they didn't immediately trust her cryptic dreams and intuitions (as if anyone's intuition is worthy of blind obedience)", "they tied her up" yeah when she was literally thrashing around like a fucking maniac 😅 These are her being "dehumanized"? Ridiculous. Id argue she dehumanizes her husband and friends FAR more than they supposedly do to her. Whats more dehumanizing? Leaving someone's side to try and earn a living (healthy) and not reading her mind and knowing her opinion about flowers? Or marrying someone knowing damn well that you literally have a demon hunting you down and using that person to run from that truth and then not telling them until it has literally murdered everyone he and you care about? L take from Jesse. Still love her channel but this feminist take is painfully shallow and un-self aware
@@Paradox-dy3vewhile i didn’t entirely agree with her take i can tell you’re either a man or old as hell because how did you watch the 2024 nosferatu and interpret misogynistic themes from it 💀 she wasn’t crazy. she was right. willem dafoe gets it idk why you don’t
@@stellaluna5064implying that I am a misogynist seems like something you say when you have no actual argument. I never said she wasn't right that the monster exists. I said she was thrashing around like a psychopath. Which she was. You supposedly read my comment, how do you answer for what I said substantively? Apart from insinuating that I am a misogynist, and making reference to what year it is, that is. How was she "dehumanized"? How is her marrying a man to run away from a demon she summoned to the world and then not being fully honest when he's about to walk into it's arms because of her, not dehumanizing? Also, how is having this interpretation misogynistic? Just because the people I'm disagreeing with are feminists? Feminists and feminism aren't above disagreement. I'm Jewish, is disagreeing with me anti-Semitism? Perhaps we just have different interpretations of art. I never insulted the person who I disagree with, but you imply I am something terrible for not agreeing with you. I think that shows a bit of immaturity. The theme of story, at least in Egger's adaptation, is "Does evil come from within or from beyond?" You're meant to interpret which one you believe. I believe it comes from within, and the story is made to fit both interpretations. But even if you believe evil comes from "Beyond" I still think it is a shallow interpretation to say that the "beyond" where evil comes from is "society" or "gender roles". I think it could be a deeper spiritual source or perhaps the laws of nature if you're not a particularly spiritual person. Laying evil and the craving for evil at the feet of "gender roles" is not a particularly meaningful or, I think, warranted interpretation. Tell me how I'm wrong if you believe that to be the case. Don't just say "it's current year, and you're probably a misogynist" because that's just a lazy way to avoid having to actually be correct and just write off what I say. And yes, I am a man. With just as valid a perspective on the world as any other kind of person. I don't judge people based on their identity. I listen to them based on the merits of their perspective.
@@Paradox-dy3ve I found Eggers' version of Ellen to be truly unlikeable for many of the reasons you stated above, and as a result, couldn't bring myself to enjoy this movie very much.
@@Paradox-dy3vedisagree, I think you're forgetting about the other half of this story, Orlaf. Orlaf came because he knew he could manipulate her in her moment of weakness. He used her loneliness to take advantage of her then spends the entire movie gaslighting, possessing and abusing her with intent of consuming her. She doesn't want to say something about him because she believes she isnt worthy to be forgiven or redeemed and like you said, too ashamed to speak up. Even Thomas comes to this conclusion, he knows the monster Orlaf is, how can she be blamed for not reacting rationally when she's gone through what she's gone through? It's not like people would have believed her. Frederick is equally as dismissive, unwilling to believe that something supernatural and awful is happening. It comes full circle when Nosferatu comes for his entire family and it's implied that he tries to have sex with her wife's corpse at the end. I don't condone that shit but I can see why this brush with the supernatural, the trauma of his familys murder and his own descent into madness and the plague because of Orlaf would make him act irrationally. Everyone dismissed her the whole movie until they couldn't rationalize what was happening directly in their own lives.
Considering that Stoker never went to Romania and got all his knowledge about the country from books, I wouldn't be surprised if he misunderstood ot misremembered something or just made it up.
@Oxtocoatl13 I believe he got the term from a book by Emily Gerard who had visited Transylvania. I think the most likely term of origin is either "Nefârtatul" (Enemy, Devil) or "Necuratul" (Unclean, Devil).
This is a fair reading of the film, except that Ellen literally has super natural powers, so it's not quite complete. I think it's especially telling when Albin mentions that maybe she would have been hailed as a priestess if it wasn't for "this modern" world. Personally, I think Eggers is telling a story of people with talent and vision (on the nose, frankly) being drained and used by a powerful Lord class that does nothing but spread plagues and trick people with contracts and bags of gold.
Another grear video, Jess! I didn't know that much about Nosferatu, only having read Bram Stoker's original book. I always saw the character of Mina as a type of the Church which in Scripture is depicted as a woman. Dracula is essentially the opposite of Christ, taking the blood of others to extend his own life, while Christ gives His own blood to save others. This is why the Eucharist in Stoker's book is so deadly to Dracula. The women in the book aren't poor leads because they're women, but because they are representative of the state of humans in general. Anyway, that's how I've always seen Stoker's story.
Eggers’ Nosferatu is terrific - I can hardly imagine a better movie from the source material, but somewhere around the castle Orlock scenes, I REALLY wanted a 3 part miniseries on Max or Netflix. I think a 3-4 hour mini series would be the sweet spot. For example, Ellen and Thomas truly do love each other… her personal turmoil (referred to “melancholy” to mask the haunting reality of that turmoil) was quieted by his love, and he wanted to better himself economically for her. Thomas obviously needed to listen to Ellen about his job/career - his personal ambition was a tremendous flaw, but that’s what I wanted to see fleshed out in more detail, in part because there was genuine love between them. Imagine another scene or two with them, perhaps how they met, perhaps a scene showing how they had different priorities in life. Maybe Thomas loves her more because of this particular priority that she has… We did technically get some context for this dynamic, especially with the scene where she cannot convince him to stay, but having some “show don’t tell” scene(s) where Thomas must prove himself as socio-economically worthy enough would have been powerful, especially because the (phenomenal) ending would have been a little bit more powerful that way… Does Eggers’ Thomas really understand what Ellen did - and then perhaps he ends up becoming the next Orlock to tragically continue the cycle of tragedy and death? Or is there too much anger, trauma, sadness in him to move forward in any meaningful capacity? Where does his ambition and lost love leave him, as a character? Again, the movie is terrific - highly recommended - the very first scene of the movie is where we see their relationship dynamic, but I suppose I’m saying that Thomas was a little bit too “one note” (due to the theatrical run time, maybe?). I also wanted to get more scenes with Ellen - how did her character evolve to the point where she falls in love with Thomas - what other things did she try to quiet the demon that was (literally and/or metaphorically) looking to take advantage of her power as a character? There is mention of her premonitions - what did other people in her life make of this, and how did she manage these moments in her development? The fact that she was able to do what she did to defeat this powerful demon of death is remarkable - making her character worthy of deeper examination. The same is true of Willem Dafoe’s character. How did he turn to mysticism, away from the natural science of Newton? A scene or two there would be awesome. Again, 3-4 hours seems like the sweet spot…
Jess, if u have seen the original "Ghosts" TV show no doubt you recall that in one episode the cause of the exposure to the plague that killed the ghost in what was an actual plague pit, but for most of the show is seen as Samantha's house's basement were killed by one of the ghosts and said pit who brought back the fleas from a trading venture. There's no mention of any creatures smaller than homo sapien. Come to think of it, any animal could easily have carried the fleas I would think. Heaven knows cats and dogs have enough fleas, if not treated
@@Jess_of_the_Shire Perfect! Just about any of the topics that were left out of your Halloween video for the sake of time could be made into their own videos, so the basic research has already been dealt with when you think about it. I particularly enjoyed the section on 'Salem's Lot and feel that you could explore it further, especially given how Father Callahan was a supporting character in books 5-7 of The Dark Tower series. You mentioned in the comments under that video how the queer themes and subtext of a lot of vampire media was too big of a topic to cover in an already lengthy video, so maybe that could potentially get covered down the line.
@Jess_of_the_Shire you should watch the anime movie "vampire hunter D" and sequel "Vampire hunter D: bloodlust." Pretty cool post-apocalyptic take on vampires, and the sequel is absolutely beautiful in terms of animation.
Your eye make-up is mesmerizing, they have an amazing effect on your eyes! o_O I haven't seen the new Nosferatu yet, but I don't think it can defeat Werner Herzog's Nosferatu, since I think it is the best vampire movie out there. However, I will give Robert Eggers' version a shot, because with this UA-cam video you have piqued my interest and I am curious now. Thank you for all the wonderful videos you have created this year, I wish you happy hobbitty holidays for the rest of 12024, and a healthy new year. :)
I love Herzog's version, its very fun. I can't guarantee that Eggers will displace Herzog's for you, but it's definitely worth a watch. Hope you enjoy!
Loved Eggers’ version and can’t wait to see it again but it doesn’t quite top Murnau’s original, for me. Wild to think that makes Herzog’s third when it is immaculate in its own right. Regardless, if someone says, “Wanna watch Nosferatu?” the answer will be an emphatic “Yes!”
Eggers' Orlok is not urging Ellen to "weaponize" anything or claim power. Nor does he care about her "passion". He describes himself as pure consumption, and he is going to consume her, threatening to kill everyone she loves if she does not give into him. And so she doesn't until she perceives that she has no other choice (after Orlok has killed Anna and her children, despite Ellen warning Friedrich). The Witch is the Eggers film where the female protagonist claims power at the end. I don't think of Ellen as an "outsider" comparable to Orlok in any previous Nosferatu. Unfortunate? Sure. But the rest of her community would regard her as just another member of her society (which is entirely compatible with having your warnings ignored). You say "Maybe we should look at what drove her into his arms in the first place". But you never mention her recalling how she (unknowingly) reached out to Orlok as a child! That's something new introduced by Eggers. Perhaps being a lonely child is less thematically interesting than repression, but that's the text of the film.
can we really call the vvitch empowerment??? as far as I remember the whole family is killed and deiven mad. She was deiven to the coven my a external force in a vunerable moment, its more gaslighting than empowerment
Personally, I think the differences between Nosferatu and Dracula is how both portrayals really explore our perspectives of vampirism and just the character in general. When you hear Dracula, you are intrigued and seduced but you're unaware of the clearly dangerous energy he carries. When we hear Nosferatu, we think of impending doom and dread and we feel inherently disgusted in the same way when we look at a rotting corpse and we smell the stench of the grave. This is what makes the vampire archetype fascinating. It's a myth that was birthed out of primitive times when people didn't know who was dead or not and they buried people alive. Because of that, it manifested into a multifaceted beast with many faces. That's why it still remains iconic to this day.
The mention of Stoker and his characters in the end credits of the film weren't added until years later, when the film was reevaluated and popularized. The 1921 version did not have those credits. They were most likely added in 1929, which was when the film first screened in America.
Hi, I just wanted to write a quick word without any relation to the topic of this video, I have a deep phobia of rats and the way you show yours and the deep love you have for them is heartwarming and so cute and help a little at a time with my phobia ❤️
As someone who has seen pretty much every vampire flick ever made, the 1922 version is the only one that ever managed to actually scare me. All the others make me smile. The Herzog one I found unbearably boring - yes, it has fascinating themes and ideas, but as a film, it's got way too many pacing issues. And Kinski is so ridiculously melodramatic; I can't take that guy seriously in anything. Maybe the English dub is better (never seen it)? But Kinski in German, with his actual voice and diction? Ooooof. Plus, fun fact of the day: The rats they ordered for the 1979 film turned out to be white lab rats on arrival and they had to dye them grey. I am, however, a big fan of the pastiche "Shadow of the Vampire" and I'm definitely stoked for the remake! Haven't seen it yet, but I definitely will! It looks awesome.
I watched this video and now whenever I hear the trigger-word "Nosferatu" I'm compelled to take all media offline. I don't know how that happened. 🤷♂️
A lot of excellent points raised about Eggers' remake. I think the Count sort of brings the characters out of their repression in Eggers' film. My favorite is still tied between the 22 version and Herzog's. I consider Herzog's to still be the greatest vampire film ever made.
I've seen all the Nosferatu's now and Eggers' film is my favourite for many of the reasons in this vid. Plus it's simply gorgeous filmmaking with incredible visuals and brilliant sound design. Bill Skarsgard's Orlok is a truly menacing and repulsive creature who really does look and sound like the living corpse of a long dead Transylvanian nobleman. Brilliant stuff l.
HURRAY THE RETURN OF GOTH JESS AKA THE BEST JESS (in my opinion at least) 🥳🎉🧛♀🦇!!! I’ve definitely been wanting to check out the new Nosferatu along with Shadow of the Vampire despite not having seen the previous versions of the story, but I didn’t really feel like going out to see it on Christmas day because (1) I was in a very chill mood, and (2) I had just watched the new Doctor Who special and didn’t want to experience tonal whiplash haha. Hopefully the film will still be in theaters by the time I see it because I’m sick of movies coming and going in the blink of an eye! It’s the reason why I had to stream The First Omen despite the fact that a film that is as amazing as that one deserves to be experienced on a larger screen (Amanda Lepre has an amazing cover of ‘Ave Satani’ BTW). Maven of the Eventide has a really good review of the original Nosferatu and Ryan Hollinger just put out a video titled 'The Deadly Shadow of NOSFERATU' if you’re at all interested, and if you’re in need of a neat Dracula related film then I would definitely recommend The Last Voyage of the Demeter because it nicely fleshed out a part of the original book that always had the potential to work as its own story (it also deserved way better at the box office).
I hope you're able to see it on the big screen! Honestly, it would still be a blast to watch on streaming though, I think it's kind of an instant classic
Mina Harker was about as empowered as a female character written by a man could be. Remember that it was her trancription and collation of the audio and epistellary sources that cracked the mystery wide open. Of course she specifically learned these secretarial skills so that she could be useful to her husband so it is far from a perfect feminist work. I want to see an adaptation that makes her a hacker.
Egger´s Nosferatu is a beautiful movie that manages to go deeper where the 1922 movie couldn’t, visually striking and thematically a true fairytale of the Romantic Era.
Lovely video, I haven't seen any of the Nosferatu films, so it was nice to hear about them. However, I strongly disagree about Mina's role in Bram Stoker's Dracula. Although she puts up with multiple instances of being talked down to because she's a woman, she frequently demonstrates herself as having more insight than even Van Helsing on many instances, through her reasoning and wisdom. I'll also note that the reason she becomes victimized by Dracula is because the men didn't include her in on the plans. Throughout the story, Stoker emphasizes how the group is stronger when everyone, including Mina, is working together to stop Dracula. Moreover, although the themes of masculinity and sex in Dracula are two you can definitely note, I strongly believe they are not the primary axis of the story. The primary depiction of vampires in Stoker's Dracula is that they are a "Devilish mockery" of good and Godly things. Sure, the role of man or sex is one of those things that is "devilishly mocked" but it's far from the only thing. Dracula himself contrasts in many ways with Jesus; Jesus walks on water, Dracula cannot cross it. Jesus gives immortal salvation when drinking his blood, Dracula damns those who drink his to immortal vampirism (his "baptism of blood"). Lucy, in vampire form is also a devilish mockery of a mother, sustaining herself on the life of children, instead of the other way around. Once you read the book from this angle, it makes the sex angle feel shallow. Oh, and I guess the other major theme of the book would be keeping an open mind in an age of science, which ties in with the godliness angle.
I love the original Nosferatu and the original 1922 movie. Its a genuine 10/10 for me, even to this day it honestly scares me in a way a lot of other horror movies dont.
Loved the crows in the background! The Goth make-up is beautiful! Have you ever read the novel, "I, Vampire" by Michael Romkey? Excellent work over the year! I think I have viewed the majority of your vids this year. Looking forward to where you will go from here. Loved the Vampire thread of vids. Have a great New Year, and thanks for all you do!
The third remake is actually "Nosferatu; Symphony of horror" (2023) - Its virtually a shot for shot copy but with dialogue -Really beautiful Black and White/sepia imagery. BTW The name Nosferatu doesn't appear in Dracula, it's a made up name which the film makers created with a backstory, as well as a mystery surrounding the identity and background of the actor who played Orlof - Kind like what the producers of Blair Witch did for their pre-release marketing. Now that's ahead of its time.
I actually read up on the word “Nosferatu” and it predates the film. Like with most slang, it’s hard to track the origins, especially back in the day but the word was popularized in 1885 in an English article about vampires, claiming it was a Romanian term, which apparently was inaccurate. Apparently, the author cited a German writer who wrote about “Transylvanian Superstitions” back in 1865, and the first to use the word “Nosferatu” in print (in German). It is possible the word “Nosferatu” was used around Europe in folklore or spooky stories thought the 1800’s but wasn’t never written down or questioned too much. So it may have strictly a local thing that spread until the articles started to use them in print. The closest word in Romanian would be “nesuferit” which means “offensive one” but isn’t explicitly a word for vampire. But with many words, it soon took life of its own and became a thing. It’s like how some names of cities in America originated from mispronunciations of words from local indigenous tribes. I love stuff like that.
@@davidbc5023 You are probably right. In Romanian and Slavic folk lore there is a creation Myth, God and the Devil fighting. The Devil in this story is called "Nefârtatul". Personally I think its made up by Murnau to market the film (Nosferatu sounds more Latin than Balkan) He claimed to have met a real vampire in Serbia and that Max Schreck (actor who payed Count Orlok) was indeed also a Vampire; which gave rise to the movie Shadow of the Vampire.
When this video started I thought, ‘how is this going to turn into an empathetic defense of the female character and rats?’ You’re one in a million, Jess. Keep being you.
Thanks for your thoughts on Nosferatu! If you haven’t already you should check out Shadow of the Vampire starring William Defoe as Max Schreck and John Malkovich as F. W. Murnau! I think you would be intrigued!
When I was in high school taking German , the University's theatre in my town showed Herzog's Nosferatu with great regularity and I watched it over and over. (As best as I can recall they showed the German version with English subtitles rather than the English dub... But I may be misremembering.) Later on I saw the Murnau version. Now I have seen Eggers' version. I think Herzog's version is still the one I like best. Arguably it is the *Herzog* film I like best. There likely are some scenes Murnau does that haven't been topped. As much as I think that Eggers' version is beautiful to watch and his actors performances are excellent there's alot I think that gets sacrificed for the sake of making a scarier vampire film that leaves me feeling its more superficial and empty than the others. Two things I recently learned from watching reviews on UA-cam is that Murnau's vampire is a product of antisemetic views in 1920s Germany, even if that was unintended by Murnau himself. I'm wondering if Herzog and Eggers respinning the vampire wasn't an attempt to distance themselves from any whiff of antisemitism. But I feel Eggers' version of the vampire feels more of a nod to Coppola's Dracula film than the previous Nosferatus.... And I just don't rank Coppola's film all that highly. The other thing is about the plague. (Although that too relates to the first thing) I always assumed it was the mediaeval plague. And I really love this element of Nosferatu. But I have now heard that there was actually an outbreak of plague in Germany in the 1830s and that's the reason Murnau chose this setting. I didn't know about the plague being spread by human lice rather than rodent fleas. Thanks for that. I sometimes wonder if I'm the only person who notices that Murnau's vampire is more like a huge bipedal rat himself than whatever Bela Lugosi, Frank Langella and Christopher Lee were. But Herzog describes him as insect-like rather than rat-like.
Hey folks! Some of y'all have pointed out that there's a "media offline" screen blipping up during some of the clips. Something got messed up due to using different technology while travelling for the holidays, and I wasn't able to catch it before uploading. It doesn't look like I'll be able to fix that, but I hope you all enjoy the video in spite of it!
Hope you had a good holiday at least! It's a minor error, so don't worry too much, Jess, the overall video turned out great and you should feel proud.
Its perfectly fine.. P.S: Would you please make videos on Locked Tomb (Gideon the Ninth) series by Tamsyn Muir? Have you read it? If not, I highly recommend iit
@Jess_of_the_Shire these BLIPS were miniscule and gone as fast as they appeared
No problems. To be honest, I was thinking it might be a new way to confuse the copyright algorithm. Happy Hobbity Holidays!
That is precisely what I thought, I wouldnt have even paid attention to it at all if I hadnt seen the comment @noscwoh1
Roger Ebert wrote that when you say the name "Dracula" you smile, when you say "Nosferatu" you frown.
That is a great way to put it. Dracula has become an icon, Orlok, and nosferatu as a whole, remain a symbol of true terror.
So Nosferatu is what Dracula was before pop-culture diluted it?
@@carsonsmith7314 Also your mouth literally smiles when saying the former and frowns saying the latter!
@@dailydoseofsunshine2319Depends on what you mean. Appearance wise, in their of source, both looked very different form each other. With powers, Dracula is more terrifying. But Nosferatu reminds us more of an animal, a predator, making his vibe more scary. Funnily enough, Nosferatu was the rip off of Dracula, the of source was an unauthorized adaptation of Dracula
@@dailydoseofsunshine2319 no its an interpretation of the original story and both have molded the lore of all vampires to come and are responsible for the two main archetypes of vampire you see today. one is a charismatic charming upper class person who is hiding a dark secret and manipulates their prey, the other an inhuman monster lost to a curse that preys on the weak. Popular culture didn't make the sexy hot vampire, it was the original.
I love how Eggers’ version of Orlock looks very much like Vlad the Impaler.
Yes! It's so delightfully unnerving.
I actually really disliked the new appearance. Felt a little out of place.
@@joeyhoy1995 you mean the Romanian guy in the German town?
@@zildjianabuser nah, I just don't love the drastic redesign. I'd prefer they keep it closer to the original look. Out of place wasn't the right phrase.
@joeyhoy1995 fair enough. I was taken aback when I first saw him too because I was expecting the more murine look, but I personally appreciate what I took as a nod to the original Dracula.
Great video and breakdown, however my point of contention is "Orlok is the only one not using her as a tool”. He did literally abuse her psychically for years for his own pleasure. He's a creature of utmost gluttony and he doesn't love her (which he admits himself). He does however appreciate her true power and darkness, and yearns to have her unleashed, which is what causes Ellen in turn to also yearn for him as nobody else gives her that agency.
I would say it's Thomas and Anna, who she truly loved in a healthy way who never used her as a tool. They were dismissive, sure, but they truly cared and loved her and she them.
Her final sacrifice is both her unleashing her power, while also ending Orlok for what he's done to her and her loved ones. She is a complex and beautifully tragic character.
Yes, I agree--especially by the end, Thomas does in fact know and understand Ellen pretty well, having experienced some of what she has (there is a clear invocation of sexual assault). After she tells him her darkest shame, he insists that he still loves her and she will never be rejected or abused as she fears again. He does then try to sort of redeem his masculinity by insisting that he'll kill Orlok, but the act of impaling Dracula, which would normally be the ultimate reclamation of masculinity, is abortive. I think it's very significant for this video's thematic interests that, in this version, Thomas is extremely feminized and paralleled to Ellen. They even look alike. The only normative masculinity anywhere in the film is Friedrich, who's a clown from the start, and perhaps Sievers, who is bumblingly ineffective. In a film this aware of gender dynamics (calming the womb! The "base animal" comment was the historical attitude about women generally, not just a specific take on Ellen!), the handling of Thomas is transformative for the character and his relationship to Ellen, society, and the story when compared to the other versions discussed here.
@@mirandameyer237 Thank you for your comment. I will make the point that even though Thomas may not "appear" traditionally macho and masculine as Harding, he is every definition of Masculinity throughout the movie.
Things Thomas did that show this: travelled alone to a foreign country to build a great life for his wife; attacked the Undead giant demon jailer who kept him locked up in the castle, after going down a horrific crypt to find the Undead corpse; travelled exsanguinated on horseback to his wife to protect her before demon reached her; did not shun her or dismiss her when she recounted she was unclean and full of shame, instead pulled her close lovingly; swore to kill Orlok up close with a stake through him and went out to do so; finally accepted his wife's sacrifice and held her lovingly.
Just because he was scared in the Castle (which ANYONE would be) does not make Thomas a coward. That man is brave and did everything I mentioned above while scared. He is truly masculine.
Eggers' movie is probably my favorite adaptation so far. I always like the idea of a vampire being a monster that is pretending to be human, and his Orlock can barely do that. Its also really striking how Orlock is just absolutely irredeemable especially in an era where pop culture favors vampires that are sympathetic
Yesss completely agree!
I think the kind of girls who want vampires to be sexy want a hot rich guy who exploits and oppresses others to share their wealth, status, and inhuman aesthetics with them. They have the romanticist and irrationalist streak of a proto fascist who is tired of being told they have to give up their aspirations for the benefit of lesser, poorer, uglier people who they think hold them back from "flourishing." Bourgie aspirants, class traitors.
This is why they lust after the failed aristocrats who prey on common people and want to tear down the sociology departments, factories, and other organs of working class liberation, why they don't think the vampire hunter is sexy, but the child of Satan.
@@turnleftman Hopefully I can add to your enjoyment by letting you know this movie is about dating someone your friends hate who can’t get over their ex, and having the idea of that ex loom over the entire relationship. Eggers’ movies always deal with personal horrors and the fears that are bigger in our heads than they are in reality, but taking that to its furthest ends. This is in contrast to most other vampire films that are about whatever the “great other” in our culture is at the time of their making. Nosferatu original being about Jews in Germany, Gary Oldman Dracula and interview with a vampire being about homosexuality during the aids epidemic, etc.
I thought that the mind-blows would be limited to explaining that 1922 Ellen's sacrifice was for a society that never cared for her and that she had little reason to care for, but then the revelation about humans carrying the fleas that spread The Plague and the underlying reasons why we gave rats the blame comes in and eradicates what was left of my mind from the first reveal! FASCINATING video about a fascinating movie!
At the risk of saying the wrong thing, I think Eggers' Nosferatu might be my favorite despite someone chatting in my ear the entire time I saw it. Although Ellen is still a loner who finds herself self- sacrificing for a society that neglected and constantly tried to control her, I do like that Thomas actually cares about her and that he and the other people in Ellen's life have credible reasons for not believing Ellen; they're still wrong didn't give her the chance she deserved, but I think it makes them more interesting (and depicts the plight of outcasts more honestly) when they aren't written as just being completely dismissive of her and their denial is less ostrich-in-sand levels. It might sound blasphemous, but I like that Orlok talks a lot in 2024, since all of his talk is just about having base desires and treating everyone (even Ellen) as just things to exploit so he can pursue those desires; he still feels like the barely-human Orlok of 1922, just much crueler and it really hurts that the one person who took Ellen's gift seriously berated her the entire time and ransomed her into killing herself just so he could sate his appetite.
I saw Nosferatu in the cinema, with an organist playing the score; talk about time travel.
Me too. It's a fabulous experience.
i saw it for the 100th anniversary with a live band called invisible czars. they tour!they’re incredible. they sell a dvd of the film with their score too, if you can’t catch them live it’s still worth a view.
Same! It was a 100th anniversary showing for both the film and the theatre I saw it in; a truly lovely cinema experience.
Same! At the Kentucky Theatre in Lexington, KY a couple of years ago. Great experience.
Not really a time travel though is it with the sex degeneracy and incorrect language?
Don’t forget about “Shadow of the Vampire,” one of the more innovative vampire films in the canon. Willem Dafoe as Max Schreck, and John Malkovich as FW Murnau.
Nosferatu - 'She has a beautiful bosom'.
I freaking loved that movie! Max Schreck's speech with the cast at some point, describing the vampire's solitude and his awareness of everything lost to him, is brilliant.
@@Gnamut”can he even remember how to buy bread? How to select cheese and wine?”
Mina as a GPS or as we would say, a trackula.
that's brutal
*SLOW CLAP*
@@Jess_of_the_Shire It's the absolute worst, I love it!
A real KnockHerOutu joke....
Puns are Dracula's humor; tell me otherwise....
"The nosferatu do not die like the bee when he stings once. He is only stronger; and being stronger, he has yet more power to work evil."
For me, I see Nosferatu as a rejection of humanity and giving in to the most primal urges, while Dracula aspires to reach the highest of our cultural ideals and lays bare the kind of morality needed to attain them. The nosferatu is empowered by abandoning society and reverting to an animalistic state, and Dracula finds the same kind of empowerment by fully embracing society's idea of the supremacy of the individual. I always enjoy these gothic excursions, and I do wonder if certain small furry friends decided to "give a hand" with the script starting around 25:38. Not that I dispute the facts at all, but it does suspiciously sound exactly like what they would say...
The rats had NOTHING to do with my rodential opinions, and they are absolutely not typing this comment
@@Jess_of_the_Shire Overly Sarcastic Productions have a wonderful video titled 'Trope Talk: Small Mammal on a Big Adventure' that I think you would greatly enjoy! Have you considered covering rodent based fantasy such as The Tale of Despereaux on this channel?
Ah yes, the non-individuals like Mr Hutter, Count Orlok etc etc.
….
Why would rats have a Nietzschean morality and be aristocrats?
It's been ages since I've read the novel, so I'm probably wrong, but I'm going to counter your take on Mina anyway: From what I can recall, Mina is a proficient in a couple of advanced Victorian technology, such as shorthand and typing (and she stumps Van Helsing with her shorthand skills); she's one of the voices that give us the narrative in the novel, and we get a nice sense of her humor and the directness of her tone, which I remember liking a great deal. If I remember correctly, she's an active GPS, not simply an instrument for guiding and saving - she uses her intelligence to help put two and two together, and is, in fact, an active factor in her own saving. This, at least, is my recollection.
I want to add that there's a perhaps unconscious bit of symbolism for Ellen in "Nosferatu": she's first seen playing with a kitten. Orlock is associated with rats. So the kitten will trap and kill the rat.
Her intelligence and courage were on full display in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (the comic book series, not the mediocre movie) and I would highly recommend checking it out if you haven't!
@@sebastianevangelista4921 I have seen the movie, and enjoyed huge chunks of the movie, though, for me, it loses plot and energy as it continues.
@@melenatorr Indeed, the comic is far superior.
@@sebastianevangelista4921 Thanks for that! I'll get a hold of it and get ready to enjoy.
Mina is quite competent and proficient in the book, and I like her character. However, I would still assert that Dracula is a masculine driven, male-centric narrative. Mina is important and involved, but she always defers to the judgements of male characters (sometimes to her detriment) and she is occasionally steamrolled and used in a way that is ultimately vindicated by the novel's conclusion. I wouldn't call it sexist by any means, but the female characters are definitely a product of their time, especially compared to the narrative presented by Nosferatu.
When Jess is turned into a vampire she doesn't make a big deal out of it
Its just the contrast on your screen.
@@foxx1111😂😂😂😂😂😂
The important thing is, she will get to watch every Tolkien adaptation that will ever be made.
Don't worry about it.
@@warheadsnationpoor woman...... that must be difficult.
Epic movie, awesome review and distractingly wonderful makeup 😂
Thanks for posting!
“Orloc is the only one not using her as a tool” okay this does not make sense to me. At all. Because to be consumed is to be used, to be a tool. She does not have real agency here.
I think this speaks to how we as women will leave one bad spot and enter another while mistakenly thinking we were led by our own agency. When in reality it’s two sides of the same coin. We convince ourselves we enjoy being a lamb in the jaws of a lion and call it our “awakening”
Ellen's submission to Orlok is actually a false empowerment. Like you say she was pressed into that situation, but she also had the option to defy the terms of his contract. Her sacrifice is actually an appeasement to the malevolence which mass murders the people of Wisborg to force her compliance. They never really ask the question of what the terms of contract could be because they depend too much on Alvin's occult expertise. He makes a lot of bad assumptions which guarantee the tragedy at the end, but he's convinced in his own mind that this was a job well done. If you pay close attention you can notice the contradictions in Alvin's beliefs because they're contrasted by what's depicted on the screen.
Robert Eggers remake is actually the fourth interpretation of Nosferatu if we count Shadow of the Vampire (2000).
I will add that as a rewatch after I watch Eggers' version this weekend
I watched the original flick a few minths ago that had original color grading added back to it. Yellow during the day and by fire, blue at night and in darkness and pink at dawn and dusk. I really like How Eggers used similar lighting in his film, though I wish pink had gotten more screen time. Also, the costume department was cooking so hard for this new Nosferatu, hot damn
Ellen is technically an Enchantress, a Medium. Born that way, she reaches out to the unknown cause she doesn't know she has the power to talk and commune with the dead. In a way she's a untapped Necromancer. That's how Eggers kinda reformulated the story.
Exactly. She actually summons him.
And he dismisses her erotic dreams of him as entirely of her own fabrication.
Egger’s Ellen is not an innocent victim.
@@WouterCloetens Isn't she? I was under the impression that she was only a lonely girl with untapped supernatural potential who only wanted the "comfort" of a "guardian angel" and thus, unwittingly invoked a monster. In other words: she was a teen, and not exactly in a position to know just _what_ she was summoning.
@@WouterCloetensand what part of the story suggests that??
@@WouterCloetens that was not in the original concept of the movie and props to Eggers making it his own. Most people doing reviews on this film don't dive into the source material to compare and contrast
My take: in the current Nosferatu, you take the vampire out and you're left with a story about a couple in a toxic relationship; jealousy and hidden traumas bring them together but also ruin them both, each in the most lonely way possible.
There's a lot of juice here, I love the telling of an aggressively modern story using the language of the romantic era.
Eggars is so fucking good at this.
You think he ever gets money for a historical epic?
Eggar's "Hannibal" or "Sparticus" would be awesome.
Yes but then for me the most interesting part is that Orlock himself works amazingly as a metaphor for an abusive ex/former S** predator
As if they’re two lovers doomed in the looming shadow of her former abuser
@@earhearthush-up5549how is she even in love with him
Yeah but you can't take the vampire out of the story, Orlock is the main driver of all their hidden traumas
maybe… but they didn’t give enough screen time to their relationship, before or after Thomas’ trip to Romania. I would’ve liked to see a bit more of them in their baseline relationship, and just more from Thomas in general… maybe he meet some hot Romanian chick and has a little fling before coming back to Germany, and his frantic quest to destroy Orlok is born not just out of love for Ellen, but a need to rid himself of his guilt… or something like that 🤷🏻♂️
Im a sucker for eggers work, his attention to detail is astounding! Especially for a vampire nerd like myself. Like for instance his orlock has this raspy strained breathing. Lots found it odd or off putting, but one of the old "signs" that a body was a vampire was that it "moaned", gas build up from decomp going against the vocal chords was the reason, but they didnt know that. So orlock having this wheezing moaning breath before ge speaks is like the inverse of that. This is a dead body taking in air it doesnt need to speak, which it seldom does.
Really...odd take on Ellen and Orlock's relationship in the 2024 film. They make it pretty clear the Orlock cares nothing for Ellen "I am an appetite" and that the film is an allegory for older men taking advantage of young women when they are vulnerable creating life long sexual and romantic trauma.
That is the entire reason the first scene of the film exists. Why when Thomas is near Ellen feels better and recovers. When she is with him she can overcome the sexual tramus of her youth. Only be facing it head on though can she save the man she loves and the town.
I didn't think of it as an allegory like that but I can see that.
@@zerohikari2685 doesn't she get nakey with the vampire? Oh yeah true love for her husband right there.
Your description fits the original film not this one 🤣
Something I think the film struggles with, because it's difficult territory to talk about IRL, is conveying that Ellen and Thomas each went willingly to Orlock. They wanted something from him, and they got it. To blame them as victims is to let Orlock off the hook. But nevertheless part of the human condition is getting hurt by the very things you go to for comfort.
@@lennydale92 i'm not really sure how you missed the fact that he was killing everyone she cared about and her husband was going to be next which is why she chose to sacrifice herself
Yeah eggers nosferatu is very much a rapist who manipulates and lies, blackmails and eventually coerces a girl to sleep with him. Ellen doesnt do it out of some feminist empowerment she does it to save her husband who orlok would otherwise murder
Crows are good omens: intelligent, shimmering dark entities against the white of the snow. How could you do better for "Nosferatu"?
Crows are good omens unless they are bill skaarsgaard movies.
There is a fourth version, made some years ago starring Doug Jones (THE SHAPE OF WATER), available now on AppleTV.
Personally I think the film portrays Thomas as genuinely loving Ellen, but at first not fully understanding her. As the story progresses, their love grows and grows ever more deep roots. Hence the tragedy is even greater.
Also, the film makes a good point that Ellen is an unusually powerful, intuitive soul. This is what attracts Orlock--possibly because she is herself so alive her presence quickens him.
BTW this might well be my favorite review of Eggers' film. Brava! This one is indeed my favorite version, even of DRACULA.
So far, you're the only person I've seen on UA-cam who even knows the Doug Jones one exists. Why is nobody talking about/aware of it?
It’s more a captured gentle monster theme akin to Frankenstein. I don’t see its ties to vampirism. beautiful movie
@@stargazerbird Has a very high body count, with Orlock drinking lots of people's blood (albeit mostly off screen). I honestly don't see how you can say this about NOSFERATU: SYMPHONY OF HORRORS (2024).
I saw the old silent movie and it was amazing! It started of as a meme and you were like o god this is what people are afraid of and then BAM things turn around out of nowhere and it went from funny as hell to entirely horror.
The reviews for Nosferatu, I have seen, really bring to the forefront just how media illiterate a lot of people are today. Thanks for being a light in that despair.
Most people only want to see big explosions and flashy effects.
Thinking the monster “understands” the character is a very illiterate and teenage shipping analysis to have.
Harker in Herzog's film was played by the late Bruno Ganz, who, in his portrayal of Hitler in Oliver Hirschbiegel's "Downfall," attained a form of immortality as an internet meme.
Now I want to see a literal Hitler vs Dracula movie
It achieved immortality as one of the greatest performances of all time. Bugger the memes
@@IaMaPh1991 ....there is something like this. Not one-to-one,but Hitler is killed (again) on Dracula's command in Requiem Vampire Knight. Also, Dracula fights King Arthur, and a literal Nazi, former Teutonic knight, Vampire. It's.....a kooky comicbook.
@IaMaPh1991, you can watch “The Keep” if you want to see Dracula fighting Nazis.
I had the pleasure of watching this in high school as a junior; my teacher was in NYU FILM SCHOOL part-time. The silence throughout the film was chilling.
I'm now 61, and am still impressed with this film.
Great review.
Have a HOBBITY DAY.
Bx❤😎
Idk "he didn't know she didn't like flowers being cut" is a bit of stretch to "they don't consider her human like everyone else" lol
This is one of my favorite channels in all of UA-cam. Reign from your dark castle, queen.
I just watched the Eggers version so it’s hard to say. However I have the FW Murnau a few times and I love it. I didn’t even know there WAS a Herzog version.
However. Willem Defoe and John Malkovich play Max Schreck and Murnau in a movie called The Shadow of the Vampire which imagines Sxhreck was actually a vampire.
It’s actually surprisingly good.
Cool video. I've enjoyed your recent topical departures lately!! And while I always like your cosplay looks, this one is particularly on-point!! Well done.
Thank you so much! The fresh topics have helped to keep me sane haha
@@Jess_of_the_Shire That makes perfect sense and I definitely hope to see a whole array of topics in 2025. Have you considered doing a video on The New Wave of Science Fiction? Here's a great quote from J. Michael Straczynski on what made it work and why it's still important:
“There has been a lot of hard-edged, socially challenging writing in other forms and genres. Alan Ginsberg’s Howl, Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, the raw emotionalism of Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s A Coney Island of the Mind, JD Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye…all of them pushed the frontiers of writing, and many of them got banned or ended up in court on obscenity charges. But they kept on writing, because it was necessary to take a stand for literary freedom. The SF genre was (and to a degree still is) fairly conservative and, seeing what happened to the writers noted above, tended to steer clear of controversy. This persisted up until the time of [Harlan Ellison's] first Dangerous Visions anthology and the slow birth of New Wave Science Fiction (with writers like Michael Moorcock, Ursula K. Le Guin, Samuel R. Delany and others poking at the walls of conservatism) which DV codified from individual efforts into a movement. What makes a story dangerous in speculative fiction? Anyone who is willing to risk controversy, to speak to the flaws of society, to sexual and political issues even though they might get in trouble as a result. Harlan once wrote that ‘the chief commodity a writer has to sell is their courage,’ and for me, that’s what a dangerous vision is all about: a story that requires a modicum of courage to tell it. At its best, science fiction points to a spot on the horizon that illuminates the human condition and where we may be going, and asks, ‘Are you really sure you want to continue going in this direction?’ It illuminates what Faulkner called ‘the human heart in conflict with itself.’ SF, by definition, is rooted in the effect of change and technology on human beings. (By this logic, Singing in the Rain is a science fiction movie.) We are in a time of rapid technological and social change, and science fiction can be one of the ways we can interrogate and better grasp the changes going on around us. But institutionalized SF, which retreated from the New Wave a while back, is still dragging its feet, leaving the work to be done by upcoming writers willing to talk about racism, misogyny, brutality…but also the great potential of the human heart to overcome adversity and effect positive change.
“Dangerous Visions helped get the ball rolling, but very few of the upcoming writers tackling Grimdark, or Afro-Futurism, or writers in the LGBTQIA community telling their own stories, were/are aware of the first DV anthology. Which is understandable because the book has been out of the public eye for many years, in some cases before they were even born. When I co-created/wrote/produced Sense8 for Netflix, I heard from so many in the queer community who were moved and happy to have a story that dealt respectfully with their lives, interests and concerns. For some creators who emerged from that fandom, Sense8 may have had a more current influence, but now that the DV books are returning to the outside world, that may change. I don’t think we will ever reach the point where nobody objects to anything. There will always be the outraged, the inflamed, the censorious. If anything, given the massive emphasis on banning books of alleged controversy, especially those that deal in any way with the simple existence of people in the queer community, the stakes and risks have gotten higher. But that makes it even more essential to keep pushing for freedom of speech. In a strange way, we’ve come full circle to where the first Dangerous Visions was published. In the 50s and 60s books were routinely banned, burned, and censored, and its authors pilloried and persecute. Now, in many ways, after a honeymoon period where this subsided for a bit, we have come full circle, and the banners and burners are flexing their muscles once again. Playing and self-censoring cedes the battlefield to the forces of oppression. It’s worth noting that when people say ‘keep your head down’ that’s pretty much the exact position you have to assume when you’re about to be guillotined. I’d rather go down fighting.”
My favorite aside from the original is the movie Shadow of the Vampire (dramatization of the making of Nosferatu.) Amazing cast with Willem Dafoe as Max Shrek and John Malkovich as Murnau
I saw this one after writing this video, and it was a ton of fun!
@@Jess_of_the_Shire Definitely planning on watching it at some point.
I need to see the new version again, I saw it on Christmas and something about it really got under my skin in a way I don’t understand.
Because it's rubbish.
I was disappointed that Orlock never said "Bat!" before flying away
“abracada-pocus!”
I'm so excited to see Eggers' Nosferatu! I absolutely adore vampire stories and I've loved his previous works so I'm stoked 🧛🏽♀️ Really enjoyed this video, I found you through your vampire Halloween video and I'm watching some of your other videos now. Going through a bit of a LOTR phase right now (going to see The Two Towers in my local cinema tomorrow!) so your channel is perfect! 💖 Keep up the great work, and a very happy, hobbit-y new year ✨
I hope you enjoy it! It's such a creepy blast. Have fun with the Two Towers as well!
Theatrical or Extended cut?
@@sebastianevangelista4921 Extended cut! It's been a while since I've seen it so I'm very excited 😄
@@CarmillaKnits Awesome!
Eyy my favorite theater girl posted again you guys
This is, despite being technically a remake of an adaptation, ironically, one of the most faithful adaptations of Bram Stoker's Dracula. The Count in the book was never depicted there as he is within nowadays pop culture, which is to say that he never was a tragic warrior prince who fell to darkness following the death of his wife or someone who seeks that same, redemptive love in Mina. Book Dracula was instead a bestial predator who only had a thin façade of humanity and preyed on Mina as a means to satisfy his bloodlust, not to find love (something his counterpart, Orlok, actually says in this movie: that he can't love).
I feel like this movie has given back to the vampire that type of "infectious horror" that seemed to fall short of.
"Using Mina as a GPS..."
See? Even back then us guys were lost, didn't know the way, and the woman had to be the one to get directions 😁
I loved that in Eggers’ film, the vampire doesn’t choose the maiden, she chooses him, she wakes HIM up. Von Franz even says to her “in heathen times you would have been a great priestess of Isis,” acknowledging her power and her ties to the unseen. She is Orlok’s equal, not his victim. They BOTH go to that bed knowing it means death, him to die in her arms rather than be alone again and her to keep death from reaching ever onward.
i would argue she doesn’t choose him. she chooses *release*, and he’s a means to that end. it isn’t personal at all, and i think that’s a way better story. he wants nothing more than her. she wants nothing about him, but she wants death. it’s tragic in every direction.
@@moonstone___ I think this works in the context of Dracula / Nosferatu being an allegory for terminal illness. Choosing to accept death rather than run from the inevitable.
Gross degeneracy. The original film is a much better story.
@@makesquash absolutely. she’s had a lifetime of suffering and she found a way to end it.
I have to say, it was enlightening and refreshing to listen to a review about Nosferatu from a female point of view.
And i'm not joking when i say that i now have a deeper understanding of the meaning of Ellen, respectively Lucy.
Thank you for expanding my horizon.
Hello, I also was a crazy rat lady, but I subcome to allergies and couldn't have them anymore. We had so many wonderful rattie friends! I liked your take on Nosferatu! I love that you did all three movies! I love that Ellen, fully and through her own plan sacrificed her self, for the town, and for her well, adorably dim, husband. I also was very glad that they did not harm any of the cats.
It's surprising to me that Polidori's "The Vampyre" is hardly ever brought up, despite being published in 1819. It really set the groundwork for both Dracula and Orlock. I think Lord Ruthven is a nice in-between of the two, though leaning closer towards Dracula.
You are absolutely slaying that witchy look! I'm so glad I saw Nosferatu in the theatre.
I just got back from Nosferatu! An unnerving film, and I’m also proud of saying my earliest memory of Nosferatu was his cameo appearance in o.g. SpongeBob
Thank you for this! I was lucky enough to watch Eggers's Nosferatu at a press screening a month prior to its cinematic release and was DYING to be allowed to talk about it. I haven't seen the 1979 version (I really dislike Klaus Kinski) but I watched the 1921 film and appreciate it very much. In my opinion, Nosferatu takes the cake. It provides superb cinematography, powerful, compelling acting and an overall great re-interpretation of Murnau's original story.
I like how Nosferatu implicates human behavior as part of why the vampire can thrive. Stoker’s Dracula is so good at preying on people that even when they do everything right they fall victim to him, which can make it seem like human choice and behavior doesn’t really matter all that much in the face of the monstrous, but in Nosferatu it seems like the bad choices people make individually and as a society matter a lot more and a lot of the disaster could have been averted.
This is a very well written video. Keep up the good work it was very enlightening and entertaining
"…which includes a cowboy." That never made sense to me in high school, and I'm glad to see it is vexing others as well!
Leslie Nielsen in Dracula: Dead And Loving It is the only Dracula adaptation you need to watch. It is perfection
Hope you had a great Christmas Jess, and I wish you a very happy new year when it comes.
Some good old Vampire lore to cleanse the palate after the holidays.
My paternal grandfather was one of those Germans who loved to show us kiddies old b+w films from that time he got from his father so Bela Lugosi was modern to us.This was late 50's (yup, I'm older than dirt) and to make matters worse it was at our country retreat,no one around for miles.One of us would stand guard we were so scared 😨, good times and ty for your videos, very informative ❤
I just realized this, but of all the countless reviews I've watched on this movie, this is the only one I've seen from a woman's perspective. I feel so incredibly sad for Ellen. She didn't have a friend in the world. Your review gave me a lot to think about. Excellent job Jess of the Shire.
That interpretation is so bizarre to me. She has more than most people do.
A husband who wants to provide, and friends who stick with her despite her literally being a psychotic mess 24/7.
I really dislike this "woah is her" attitude for this review. Especially when she lied about her intentions to her husband. She never loved him and was instead using him to stave off the demon that she summoned. And then allowed that demon to murder the friends who tried to help her before finally facing the truth that shes corrupted and letting herself be the one to die instead of more innocents.
She was holding back what she knew and really felt from the beginning because she was ashamed to face it in herself. If she had been honest, he probably would never have been with her. She knew from the beginning what she had unleashed on the world, but was too afraid to face that truth until the end. And its not "society's" fault that she felt that way. She was ashamed because what she did was shameful...
The things that Jesse is saying are her friends and husband "dehumanizing" her are absolutely ridiculous and overstated.
"He didn't know her opinion of picking flowers", "they didn't listen to cryptic warnings where she wasn't being fully honest", "they didn't immediately trust her cryptic dreams and intuitions (as if anyone's intuition is worthy of blind obedience)", "they tied her up" yeah when she was literally thrashing around like a fucking maniac 😅
These are her being "dehumanized"? Ridiculous.
Id argue she dehumanizes her husband and friends FAR more than they supposedly do to her.
Whats more dehumanizing? Leaving someone's side to try and earn a living (healthy) and not reading her mind and knowing her opinion about flowers? Or marrying someone knowing damn well that you literally have a demon hunting you down and using that person to run from that truth and then not telling them until it has literally murdered everyone he and you care about?
L take from Jesse. Still love her channel but this feminist take is painfully shallow and un-self aware
@@Paradox-dy3vewhile i didn’t entirely agree with her take i can tell you’re either a man or old as hell because how did you watch the 2024 nosferatu and interpret misogynistic themes from it 💀 she wasn’t crazy. she was right. willem dafoe gets it idk why you don’t
@@stellaluna5064implying that I am a misogynist seems like something you say when you have no actual argument.
I never said she wasn't right that the monster exists. I said she was thrashing around like a psychopath. Which she was.
You supposedly read my comment, how do you answer for what I said substantively? Apart from insinuating that I am a misogynist, and making reference to what year it is, that is.
How was she "dehumanized"? How is her marrying a man to run away from a demon she summoned to the world and then not being fully honest when he's about to walk into it's arms because of her, not dehumanizing?
Also, how is having this interpretation misogynistic? Just because the people I'm disagreeing with are feminists?
Feminists and feminism aren't above disagreement.
I'm Jewish, is disagreeing with me anti-Semitism?
Perhaps we just have different interpretations of art.
I never insulted the person who I disagree with, but you imply I am something terrible for not agreeing with you. I think that shows a bit of immaturity.
The theme of story, at least in Egger's adaptation, is "Does evil come from within or from beyond?"
You're meant to interpret which one you believe. I believe it comes from within, and the story is made to fit both interpretations.
But even if you believe evil comes from "Beyond" I still think it is a shallow interpretation to say that the "beyond" where evil comes from is "society" or "gender roles". I think it could be a deeper spiritual source or perhaps the laws of nature if you're not a particularly spiritual person.
Laying evil and the craving for evil at the feet of "gender roles" is not a particularly meaningful or, I think, warranted interpretation.
Tell me how I'm wrong if you believe that to be the case. Don't just say "it's current year, and you're probably a misogynist" because that's just a lazy way to avoid having to actually be correct and just write off what I say.
And yes, I am a man. With just as valid a perspective on the world as any other kind of person. I don't judge people based on their identity. I listen to them based on the merits of their perspective.
@@Paradox-dy3ve I found Eggers' version of Ellen to be truly unlikeable for many of the reasons you stated above, and as a result, couldn't bring myself to enjoy this movie very much.
@@Paradox-dy3vedisagree, I think you're forgetting about the other half of this story, Orlaf. Orlaf came because he knew he could manipulate her in her moment of weakness. He used her loneliness to take advantage of her then spends the entire movie gaslighting, possessing and abusing her with intent of consuming her. She doesn't want to say something about him because she believes she isnt worthy to be forgiven or redeemed and like you said, too ashamed to speak up. Even Thomas comes to this conclusion, he knows the monster Orlaf is, how can she be blamed for not reacting rationally when she's gone through what she's gone through?
It's not like people would have believed her. Frederick is equally as dismissive, unwilling to believe that something supernatural and awful is happening. It comes full circle when Nosferatu comes for his entire family and it's implied that he tries to have sex with her wife's corpse at the end. I don't condone that shit but I can see why this brush with the supernatural, the trauma of his familys murder and his own descent into madness and the plague because of Orlaf would make him act irrationally.
Everyone dismissed her the whole movie until they couldn't rationalize what was happening directly in their own lives.
From a Romanian speaker, the term Nosferatu is either some older term I'm not aware of or a misunderstanding by Stoker of some other term.
Considering that Stoker never went to Romania and got all his knowledge about the country from books, I wouldn't be surprised if he misunderstood ot misremembered something or just made it up.
@Oxtocoatl13 I believe he got the term from a book by Emily Gerard who had visited Transylvania. I think the most likely term of origin is either "Nefârtatul" (Enemy, Devil) or "Necuratul" (Unclean, Devil).
Could it be Hungarian and not Romanian?
This is a fair reading of the film, except that Ellen literally has super natural powers, so it's not quite complete. I think it's especially telling when Albin mentions that maybe she would have been hailed as a priestess if it wasn't for "this modern" world. Personally, I think Eggers is telling a story of people with talent and vision (on the nose, frankly) being drained and used by a powerful Lord class that does nothing but spread plagues and trick people with contracts and bags of gold.
By far the best analysis of this film. Most of the discussions I've seen are frustratingly shallow.
Another grear video, Jess! I didn't know that much about Nosferatu, only having read Bram Stoker's original book. I always saw the character of Mina as a type of the Church which in Scripture is depicted as a woman. Dracula is essentially the opposite of Christ, taking the blood of others to extend his own life, while Christ gives His own blood to save others. This is why the Eucharist in Stoker's book is so deadly to Dracula. The women in the book aren't poor leads because they're women, but because they are representative of the state of humans in general. Anyway, that's how I've always seen Stoker's story.
Eggers’ Nosferatu is terrific - I can hardly imagine a better movie from the source material, but somewhere around the castle Orlock scenes, I REALLY wanted a 3 part miniseries on Max or Netflix. I think a 3-4 hour mini series would be the sweet spot.
For example, Ellen and Thomas truly do love each other… her personal turmoil (referred to “melancholy” to mask the haunting reality of that turmoil) was quieted by his love, and he wanted to better himself economically for her. Thomas obviously needed to listen to Ellen about his job/career - his personal ambition was a tremendous flaw, but that’s what I wanted to see fleshed out in more detail, in part because there was genuine love between them. Imagine another scene or two with them, perhaps how they met, perhaps a scene showing how they had different priorities in life. Maybe Thomas loves her more because of this particular priority that she has…
We did technically get some context for this dynamic, especially with the scene where she cannot convince him to stay, but having some “show don’t tell” scene(s) where Thomas must prove himself as socio-economically worthy enough would have been powerful, especially because the (phenomenal) ending would have been a little bit more powerful that way…
Does Eggers’ Thomas really understand what Ellen did - and then perhaps he ends up becoming the next Orlock to tragically continue the cycle of tragedy and death? Or is there too much anger, trauma, sadness in him to move forward in any meaningful capacity? Where does his ambition and lost love leave him, as a character?
Again, the movie is terrific - highly recommended - the very first scene of the movie is where we see their relationship dynamic, but I suppose I’m saying that Thomas was a little bit too “one note” (due to the theatrical run time, maybe?). I also wanted to get more scenes with Ellen - how did her character evolve to the point where she falls in love with Thomas - what other things did she try to quiet the demon that was (literally and/or metaphorically) looking to take advantage of her power as a character? There is mention of her premonitions - what did other people in her life make of this, and how did she manage these moments in her development? The fact that she was able to do what she did to defeat this powerful demon of death is remarkable - making her character worthy of deeper examination. The same is true of Willem Dafoe’s character. How did he turn to mysticism, away from the natural science of Newton? A scene or two there would be awesome.
Again, 3-4 hours seems like the sweet spot…
Given how it ends do you honestly think Eggers Thomas and Ellen love each other like the 1922 couple did?
Jess, if u have seen the original "Ghosts" TV show no doubt you recall that in one episode the cause of the exposure to the plague that killed the ghost in what was an actual plague pit, but for most of the show is seen as Samantha's house's basement were killed by one of the ghosts and said pit who brought back the fleas from a trading venture. There's no mention of any creatures smaller than homo sapien. Come to think of it, any animal could easily have carried the fleas I would think. Heaven knows cats and dogs have enough fleas, if not treated
Have you thought about doing a whole series/playlist on vampires?
That's definitely the plan! Now that I have 2 videos, I'll have to make a playlist
@@Jess_of_the_Shire Perfect! Just about any of the topics that were left out of your Halloween video for the sake of time could be made into their own videos, so the basic research has already been dealt with when you think about it. I particularly enjoyed the section on 'Salem's Lot and feel that you could explore it further, especially given how Father Callahan was a supporting character in books 5-7 of The Dark Tower series. You mentioned in the comments under that video how the queer themes and subtext of a lot of vampire media was too big of a topic to cover in an already lengthy video, so maybe that could potentially get covered down the line.
@Jess_of_the_Shire you should watch the anime movie "vampire hunter D" and sequel "Vampire hunter D: bloodlust." Pretty cool post-apocalyptic take on vampires, and the sequel is absolutely beautiful in terms of animation.
@Jess_of_the_Shire you should watch "vampire hunter D" and its sequel. They're anime movies.
I love your video essays. So well considered and always follow a path. And your makeup, wow!
Your eye make-up is mesmerizing, they have an amazing effect on your eyes! o_O I haven't seen the new Nosferatu yet, but I don't think it can defeat Werner Herzog's Nosferatu, since I think it is the best vampire movie out there. However, I will give Robert Eggers' version a shot, because with this UA-cam video you have piqued my interest and I am curious now.
Thank you for all the wonderful videos you have created this year, I wish you happy hobbitty holidays for the rest of 12024, and a healthy new year. :)
I love Herzog's version, its very fun. I can't guarantee that Eggers will displace Herzog's for you, but it's definitely worth a watch. Hope you enjoy!
Can listen to you all day Jess! The way you articulate words puts me in a state of trance.
Loved Eggers’ version and can’t wait to see it again but it doesn’t quite top Murnau’s original, for me. Wild to think that makes Herzog’s third when it is immaculate in its own right.
Regardless, if someone says, “Wanna watch Nosferatu?” the answer will be an emphatic “Yes!”
Eggers' Orlok is not urging Ellen to "weaponize" anything or claim power. Nor does he care about her "passion". He describes himself as pure consumption, and he is going to consume her, threatening to kill everyone she loves if she does not give into him. And so she doesn't until she perceives that she has no other choice (after Orlok has killed Anna and her children, despite Ellen warning Friedrich). The Witch is the Eggers film where the female protagonist claims power at the end.
I don't think of Ellen as an "outsider" comparable to Orlok in any previous Nosferatu. Unfortunate? Sure. But the rest of her community would regard her as just another member of her society (which is entirely compatible with having your warnings ignored).
You say "Maybe we should look at what drove her into his arms in the first place". But you never mention her recalling how she (unknowingly) reached out to Orlok as a child! That's something new introduced by Eggers. Perhaps being a lonely child is less thematically interesting than repression, but that's the text of the film.
can we really call the vvitch empowerment??? as far as I remember the whole family is killed and deiven mad.
She was deiven to the coven my a external force in a vunerable moment, its more gaslighting than empowerment
Wonderful video essay! There's a lot to think about, I'm going to need a rewatch
Personally, I think the differences between Nosferatu and Dracula is how both portrayals really explore our perspectives of vampirism and just the character in general. When you hear Dracula, you are intrigued and seduced but you're unaware of the clearly dangerous energy he carries. When we hear Nosferatu, we think of impending doom and dread and we feel inherently disgusted in the same way when we look at a rotting corpse and we smell the stench of the grave. This is what makes the vampire archetype fascinating. It's a myth that was birthed out of primitive times when people didn't know who was dead or not and they buried people alive. Because of that, it manifested into a multifaceted beast with many faces. That's why it still remains iconic to this day.
New Evil Jess dropped!
I love your video analysis and your storytelling
The mention of Stoker and his characters in the end credits of the film weren't added until years later, when the film was reevaluated and popularized. The 1921 version did not have those credits. They were most likely added in 1929, which was when the film first screened in America.
Hi, I just wanted to write a quick word without any relation to the topic of this video, I have a deep phobia of rats and the way you show yours and the deep love you have for them is heartwarming and so cute and help a little at a time with my phobia ❤️
Phenomenal analysis! I may use this for my students when I teach Dracula next time.
As someone who has seen pretty much every vampire flick ever made, the 1922 version is the only one that ever managed to actually scare me. All the others make me smile.
The Herzog one I found unbearably boring - yes, it has fascinating themes and ideas, but as a film, it's got way too many pacing issues. And Kinski is so ridiculously melodramatic; I can't take that guy seriously in anything. Maybe the English dub is better (never seen it)? But Kinski in German, with his actual voice and diction? Ooooof. Plus, fun fact of the day: The rats they ordered for the 1979 film turned out to be white lab rats on arrival and they had to dye them grey.
I am, however, a big fan of the pastiche "Shadow of the Vampire" and I'm definitely stoked for the remake! Haven't seen it yet, but I definitely will! It looks awesome.
The finest atmospheric horror movie ever made. Hope the new one can live up to it
Super cool, thanks for the time you spend enertaining us!
Media offline?
I watched this video and now whenever I hear the trigger-word "Nosferatu" I'm compelled to take all media offline.
I don't know how that happened. 🤷♂️
I've been looking forward to this movie since Dune 2. It's been a long dry spell in quality movies for me.
I feel like Orlock was manipulative too. He's one more predator in her life.
@@rustyjones7908
One she submits to, what a great Christmas movie remake of a classic movie. (Sarcasm)
Here's to a soon-to-be Happy New year! 🍻🥂
A lot of excellent points raised about Eggers' remake. I think the Count sort of brings the characters out of their repression in Eggers' film. My favorite is still tied between the 22 version and Herzog's. I consider Herzog's to still be the greatest vampire film ever made.
I've seen all the Nosferatu's now and Eggers' film is my favourite for many of the reasons in this vid. Plus it's simply gorgeous filmmaking with incredible visuals and brilliant sound design. Bill Skarsgard's Orlok is a truly menacing and repulsive creature who really does look and sound like the living corpse of a long dead Transylvanian nobleman. Brilliant stuff l.
Great breakdown. And yeah Nosferatu was amazing, folks should see it in theaters.
HURRAY THE RETURN OF GOTH JESS AKA THE BEST JESS (in my opinion at least) 🥳🎉🧛♀🦇!!! I’ve definitely been wanting to check out the new Nosferatu along with Shadow of the Vampire despite not having seen the previous versions of the story, but I didn’t really feel like going out to see it on Christmas day because (1) I was in a very chill mood, and (2) I had just watched the new Doctor Who special and didn’t want to experience tonal whiplash haha. Hopefully the film will still be in theaters by the time I see it because I’m sick of movies coming and going in the blink of an eye! It’s the reason why I had to stream The First Omen despite the fact that a film that is as amazing as that one deserves to be experienced on a larger screen (Amanda Lepre has an amazing cover of ‘Ave Satani’ BTW). Maven of the Eventide has a really good review of the original Nosferatu and Ryan Hollinger just put out a video titled 'The Deadly Shadow of NOSFERATU' if you’re at all interested, and if you’re in need of a neat Dracula related film then I would definitely recommend The Last Voyage of the Demeter because it nicely fleshed out a part of the original book that always had the potential to work as its own story (it also deserved way better at the box office).
Goth + Hobbit = Gobbit?
@@charliestevenson3500 *SLOW CLAP*
@@charliestevenson3500BRILLIANT 😂😂😎😎
I hope you're able to see it on the big screen! Honestly, it would still be a blast to watch on streaming though, I think it's kind of an instant classic
@@Jess_of_the_Shire Thank you, that's great to hear! Either way I hope that I do indeed enjoy it and eventually get the blu ray for it.
Mina Harker was about as empowered as a female character written by a man could be. Remember that it was her trancription and collation of the audio and epistellary sources that cracked the mystery wide open. Of course she specifically learned these secretarial skills so that she could be useful to her husband so it is far from a perfect feminist work. I want to see an adaptation that makes her a hacker.
Egger´s Nosferatu is a beautiful movie that manages to go deeper where the 1922 movie couldn’t, visually striking and thematically a true fairytale of the Romantic Era.
Im a simple man. I see Jess Of the Shire and i hit like
Just saw the film and first thing I did when home was to continue this video past the spoiler marking. Love your work!
I went and saw the Eggers version on New Year's Day. What a way to start the year right? I think it is brilliant
Lovely video, I haven't seen any of the Nosferatu films, so it was nice to hear about them. However, I strongly disagree about Mina's role in Bram Stoker's Dracula. Although she puts up with multiple instances of being talked down to because she's a woman, she frequently demonstrates herself as having more insight than even Van Helsing on many instances, through her reasoning and wisdom. I'll also note that the reason she becomes victimized by Dracula is because the men didn't include her in on the plans. Throughout the story, Stoker emphasizes how the group is stronger when everyone, including Mina, is working together to stop Dracula. Moreover, although the themes of masculinity and sex in Dracula are two you can definitely note, I strongly believe they are not the primary axis of the story. The primary depiction of vampires in Stoker's Dracula is that they are a "Devilish mockery" of good and Godly things. Sure, the role of man or sex is one of those things that is "devilishly mocked" but it's far from the only thing. Dracula himself contrasts in many ways with Jesus; Jesus walks on water, Dracula cannot cross it. Jesus gives immortal salvation when drinking his blood, Dracula damns those who drink his to immortal vampirism (his "baptism of blood"). Lucy, in vampire form is also a devilish mockery of a mother, sustaining herself on the life of children, instead of the other way around. Once you read the book from this angle, it makes the sex angle feel shallow. Oh, and I guess the other major theme of the book would be keeping an open mind in an age of science, which ties in with the godliness angle.
I love the original Nosferatu and the original 1922 movie. Its a genuine 10/10 for me, even to this day it honestly scares me in a way a lot of other horror movies dont.
Loved the crows in the background! The Goth make-up is beautiful! Have you ever read the novel, "I, Vampire" by Michael Romkey? Excellent work over the year! I think I have viewed the majority of your vids this year. Looking forward to where you will go from here. Loved the Vampire thread of vids. Have a great New Year, and thanks for all you do!
Honestly this really helped me contextualize the film, and i like what i saw a lot more now
The third remake is actually "Nosferatu; Symphony of horror" (2023) - Its virtually a shot for shot copy but with dialogue -Really beautiful Black and White/sepia imagery.
BTW The name Nosferatu doesn't appear in Dracula, it's a made up name which the film makers created with a backstory, as well as a mystery surrounding the identity and background of the actor who played Orlof - Kind like what the producers of Blair Witch did for their pre-release marketing. Now that's ahead of its time.
I actually read up on the word “Nosferatu” and it predates the film. Like with most slang, it’s hard to track the origins, especially back in the day but the word was popularized in 1885 in an English article about vampires, claiming it was a Romanian term, which apparently was inaccurate.
Apparently, the author cited a German writer who wrote about “Transylvanian Superstitions” back in 1865, and the first to use the word “Nosferatu” in print (in German).
It is possible the word “Nosferatu” was used around Europe in folklore or spooky stories thought the 1800’s but wasn’t never written down or questioned too much. So it may have strictly a local thing that spread until the articles started to use them in print.
The closest word in Romanian would be “nesuferit” which means “offensive one” but isn’t explicitly a word for vampire. But with many words, it soon took life of its own and became a thing. It’s like how some names of cities in America originated from mispronunciations of words from local indigenous tribes. I love stuff like that.
@@davidbc5023 You are probably right. In Romanian and Slavic folk lore there is a creation Myth, God and the Devil fighting. The Devil in this story is called "Nefârtatul". Personally I think its made up by Murnau to market the film (Nosferatu sounds more Latin than Balkan) He claimed to have met a real vampire in Serbia and that Max Schreck (actor who payed Count Orlok) was indeed also a Vampire; which gave rise to the movie Shadow of the Vampire.
This is very insightful!
Storytelling, Vampires, and Rats? This might be the biggest no-brainer for Jess. Goth Jess, is a bonus.
This new film was fantastic and ever since I have seen it it has not left my mind. I love them all in their own ways, and it is so interesting to me.
When this video started I thought, ‘how is this going to turn into an empathetic defense of the female character and rats?’ You’re one in a million, Jess. Keep being you.
Thanks for your thoughts on Nosferatu! If you haven’t already you should check out Shadow of the Vampire starring William Defoe as Max Schreck and John Malkovich as F. W. Murnau! I think you would be intrigued!
When I was in high school taking German , the University's theatre in my town showed Herzog's Nosferatu with great regularity and I watched it over and over. (As best as I can recall they showed the German version with English subtitles rather than the English dub... But I may be misremembering.)
Later on I saw the Murnau version. Now I have seen Eggers' version. I think Herzog's version is still the one I like best. Arguably it is the *Herzog* film I like best. There likely are some scenes Murnau does that haven't been topped.
As much as I think that Eggers' version is beautiful to watch and his actors performances are excellent there's alot I think that gets sacrificed for the sake of making a scarier vampire film that leaves me feeling its more superficial and empty than the others.
Two things I recently learned from watching reviews on UA-cam is that Murnau's vampire is a product of antisemetic views in 1920s Germany, even if that was unintended by Murnau himself. I'm wondering if Herzog and Eggers respinning the vampire wasn't an attempt to distance themselves from any whiff of antisemitism. But I feel Eggers' version of the vampire feels more of a nod to Coppola's Dracula film than the previous Nosferatus.... And I just don't rank Coppola's film all that highly.
The other thing is about the plague. (Although that too relates to the first thing) I always assumed it was the mediaeval plague. And I really love this element of Nosferatu. But I have now heard that there was actually an outbreak of plague in Germany in the 1830s and that's the reason Murnau chose this setting. I didn't know about the plague being spread by human lice rather than rodent fleas. Thanks for that. I sometimes wonder if I'm the only person who notices that Murnau's vampire is more like a huge bipedal rat himself than whatever Bela Lugosi, Frank Langella and Christopher Lee were. But Herzog describes him as insect-like rather than rat-like.